Orange Lake ResortRental Guest Reviews

Know before you GO!

Lets start on a positive note: Tyleck ( I hope I spelled his name right) in the arcade was polite. professional and the only one in our 7 day visit that made my kids day. Tyleck, management should spend a day with you and learn something about creating positive customer experiences. Lazy River is Awesome! Here are my tips to make you visit more enjoyable than what mine was. 1) This is a time share resort and vacation club, DO not accept any voucher(s) unless you are truly interested in a 90 minute presentation that will probably last 3-4 hours of pure stress. 2) This is a Golf resort. Gas powered commercial equipment starts at 5:30am sharp. Yes, you can hear them from your bedroom. Ask for rooms that faces the pool side it will help with the noise. 3) There are more fees than just your hotel booking. Resort Fees (required), tube rental fees, putt-putt golf course fees, inflatable side fees (optional). 4) During busy times of the day there is NOT enough chairs around the pool. I had to go down at 7:45am to get our chairs. 5) During busy times of the day, the trash receptacle are NOT large enough to handle all the trash. 6) During the parts of the day when time share tours are going on, prepare to wait for an elevator or plan on staking the stairs. 7) During the parts of the day when time share tours are going on, do not plan on using the loading and unloading area for it will be congested with golf carts. 8) The room we stayed in was ok, not great. Dirty in the corners, furniture edges broken down, the laminate doors in the kitchen where starting to peel and the chain lock for our door was hanging by one screw that looked like it was ready to fall out. 9) They call you everyday (around 10am) I never answered. Long Version: I did a lot of reading before we decided to stay here but no one has put these tips on one review so I decided to do so. Easter Break 2013, we stayed at Holiday Inn Hotel Club Vacations Orlando - Orange Lake Resort. I knew that this place was notorious for high pressure time share sales so I was prepared. As we finally arrived late to the resort, I checked in while my family waited in the car, tired and over hungry from our journey. The person at the check in was very nice and professional. At the end of the check-in process she attaches a voucher to use at the resort "...all you have to do is take this to the vacation station over there..." . I knew this was the plan they use to start the time share process. As I attempt to leave a young man stops me and said he could help me with the voucher. I explained to him my family was waiting, we are hungry and we are tired. He could of cared less as he starts to get me to come back to the desk. I stated again, "...not now, my family is waiting, we are hungry and tired..." . He again tries to get me to come to the desk. I finally gave him a look that must have got the message through, he stated he must take the voucher away from me before I can leave. I handed it to him and left. Never once did he offer to show us where to get something to eat, setup a time to come back to get my voucher, or offer an sort of assistance. So the next day I am awoke to what sounds like a commercial mower at 5:30am. Looking out the window I confirmed what I heard. The next 6 mornings there was no reason for me to set the alarm. After a leisure breakfast we make our way down to the pool. Not one chair was available for my family. Even thou the sign on the pool gate clearly that you cannot reserve seats, no staff member enforced it. My kids wanted tubes to float in the pool, with so I had to purchase a "3 day pass" to let them enjoy the pool. By the way the lazy river is awesome. Returning to our room it looked like some had a golf cart sale out front. Half dozen or more golf carts all parked in and around the loading/unloading zone and in front of the doors. Walking in to use the elevator, there was a line that was like Magic Kingdom all huddled in the lobby area. This gave me time to look around and notice the trash was over flowing because it was way too small to handle this many people. There is one thing I want to share with you during my stay. I feel the support staff does all the hard work to make you stay enjoyable. I feel management is only concerned about themselves and making the property more money. I feel the support staff resources are spread too thin to do a job that we would expect in visiting a high class resort such as this. I actually got anxious trying to avoid the time share and vacation club people. I never step foot in the lobby after check in, and did express check out. So, with that my wife and I have decided not to return to Holiday Inn Hotel Club Vacations Orlando - Orange Lake Resort.

Everything awesome

This is our 3rd time here. We got home yesterday and I have already started planning next year. I love the 2 bedroom villas. Traveling with 2 teenagers, my husband and I love the 2 bathrooms. There is so much to do on the property that we didn't go anywhere else. The past two times we did the theme parks and this time we just stayed at the resort and had a much better time. If I really had to complain about something, it's pretty pricey to eat at the restaurants there and the portions are small. Food Is very good, but small. We ate breakfast and lunch at the room and dinners out. Washer and dryer in the room is great, I didn't bring home dirty cloths. This past stay we were at the West Villas in the 5700 unit and we will be requesting that again. We stayed at north one time and that was nice as well. we also stayed in a studio the first time, nice for small family.There is a lot of activities going on for all ages. Check in really needs work

Horrible Hotel - OK for a condo

I booked a water park hotel and ended up at a condo with a nice pool after being charged for everything we did. HORRIBLE HOTEL, but OK if you are planning a condo vacation with small kids. We we not. First Holiday Inn vacation I was ever disappointed. Must have car, we did not. not a good value - overpriced once you add up paying for extras.

Quiet/dark room and lots to do

First "single-dad" trip with my two kids, 9 and 12. Wanted to do two "park" days, not be crammed in a hotel room, be able to eat cereal/bagels/donuts in the morning and make sandwiches for lunch, and have enough to do and not have to leave the resort on the days we weren't at the parks. Orange Lake, in this regard, met and even exceeded my expectations. Our room was "average", only because it was one of the rooms with the only window to the interior atrium at West Village. It was really dark and quiet, so that was nice. But I would be disappointed if rooms with windows to "outside", across the hall, were the same price. Our flight was delayed six hours getting there, and we were checked right in to our room with no issues at 1 a.m. I thought that was great. The only other "service" I sought was to buy Universal tickets from the consierge. I had already done my research and I knew exactly what I wanted. The gal at the desk was snippy, wanted to sell me what I didn't want or need, and she even told me that what I wanted to do was "impossible". Well, it wasn't. We instead bought exactly what I wanted at the gate. The pools were awesome. River Island was just amazing, but after a couple days of that, we preferred the overall and more "laid back" experience of the pools at West Village. That's the best thing about Orange Lake: there really is something for everyone. Breezes was a little "gross" and smelled like stale beer, but Legends at North Village and Tradewinds/RI Grilling Co at River Island were awesome. Overall, it was a great stay and we would come back if/when we ever want to do the "Orlando" Florida vacation thing again. And nothing against Orange Lake, but that might be awhile in the spirit of "been there, done that".

Always fun for the kids and Grand kids

We have always had a clean nice suite. The pools and activities are great. We had fun over the Easter weekend.

Great Resort

I loved everything about this place. Can't wait to stay here again.

Rooms are great

Rooms were spacious and very well maintained. I love everything about it, except the sales pitch they try to give you to buy into a condo. I hope management have awareness that the last thing people want to hear, after a long day of travel, is an aggressive sales pitch! I am on vacation to enjoy life and reduce stress, not talk about buying stuff. That was the main bad part. Oh, and the hotel guests are really intense abou reserving pool side chairs--at 7 in the morning.

Very clean, tons of entertainment, great location!

We loved our stay at Orange Lake. With a family of 5 it felt like our "home away from home". Lots of entertainment to do while staying at the resort. The location was perfect! Hope to return soon.

Very nice BUT...

The Resort is very nice. We only stayed for 3 days. I was disappointed to have to rent tubes for the lazy river. Thought it would be included. The main thing was the big push to buy into the time shares. Very pushy. Facilities were very nice and clean. Its a large property. Will try someplace else next time.

Reward night stay

Our stay was not good. We used our reward night points for this stay. We were expecting a lot more from the pictures that were online. Our room was out dated and looked like a flash back from the 70's. We checked in at 9pm, when we got to our room the king bed had stains on the sheets, one of the queen beds had white crusty stuff on the comforter and the pull out had throw up on it with dirt. We requested this all be changed and it took them until 1 am to get the sheets to us. The pull out did not get changed until 11am the next day. After all of this was found, we requested the room be cleaned, they did come out and clean, but it was a spot clean. The staff only cleaned what could be seen. Under the end tables there was about a inch thick of dust and old crust leaves. The fake plants had a build up of dust on them as well. This was all throughout the rooms. No one has cleaned this room in months.